Songwriter Jimmy Webb—who penned such Glen Campbell classics as “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston—has paid tribute to the late artist in a poignant remembrance posted on his Facebook page. The lengthy tribute reads, in part:

“Well, that moment has come that we have known was an inevitable certainty and yet stings like a sudden catastrophe. Let the world note that a great American influence on pop music, the American Beatle, the secret link between so many artists and records that we can only marvel, has passed and cannot be replaced -- my friend and brother in music, Glen Campbell. He was bountiful. His was a world of gifts freely exchanged: Roger Miller stories, songs from the best writers, an old Merle Haggard record, or a pocket knife. He gave me a great wide lens through which to look at music.”

As reported by Rolling Stone, Webb told Rolling Stone Country earlier this year that Campbell “was to American music what The Beatles were to British music.”

“I’m not talking about my songs, I’m talking about the countless records that he played on, including ‘You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling,’ ‘Viva Las Vegas,’ ‘Johnny Angel,’ ‘Along Comes Mary’…. He played with all kinds of genres, with different instrumentation and different styles. If it was a just and righteous world, Glen would be credited as one of the great, seminal influences of all time. He was a secret weapon in the armory of Sixties record producers.”